Keir Starmer accused of 'running scared' on winter fuel allowance
The Prime Minister is refusing to let MPs vote on controversial changes to the payment.
Keir Starmer was accused of "running scared" after refusing to hold a debate on his plans to take winter fuel payments off 10 million pensioners.
The Prime Minister insisted he did not want to cut the allowance worth hundreds of pounds but said the move would help “fix the foundations” of the economy.
But critics accused the government of wanting to avoid scrutiny over the hugely unpopular plans, which will formally come into force on September 16.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Mel Stride said: “Labour are running scared over their plans to cut Winter Fuel Payments for pensioners.
“Not only do they want to block Parliament having a say on their plans, they have not published an impact assessment as they want to hide the true costs to pensioners.
“There is no reason not to grant this debate and vote on this other than to ride roughshod over Parliament - the only reason Labour aren’t granting one is because they are running scared of asking their own MPs to vote on this matter. Labour knows axing the Winter Fuel Payment is the wrong thing to do. They’ve made this choice and they cannot defend it.”
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The Liberal Democrats tabled a motion backed by all 72 of its MPs to block the government’s proposals through a debate and vote in Parliament.
But unless the government agrees to put it to MPs, the reforms will go through without the Commons having its say.
Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “Over the past few weeks we have heard from countless pensioners worried about whether they’ll be able to heat their homes this winter.
“To push these cuts through without any other measures to mitigate the impact on millions of poorer pensioners, and with minimal parliamentary scrutiny, risks damaging the public's trust in politics and putting the most vulnerable at risk.
“We all appreciate the damage that the Conservative Party did to the public finances and the size of the challenges in front of us, but this is a step in the wrong direction and the proposed cuts must be scrutinised properly.
“The government must give MPs the chance to debate better solutions, vote on their cuts to the Winter Fuel Allowance and prevent millions of the most vulnerable in our society from losing out.”
Ms Reeves is axing the universal winter fuel allowance, which is £200 for pensioners under 80 and £300 for those over to save £1.5 billion.
Instead, only retirees claiming pension credit and some other benefits will be eligible.
It means the 11.4 million people currently in receipt will drop to just 1.5 million.
The move means there will be a cliff-edge with many pensioners just above the breadline left having to find hundreds of extra pounds this year.
And government figures show 800,000 of the lowest-income pensioners are eligible for Pension Credit but do not claim it.
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The Prime Minister said that he did not want to cut winter fuel allowance but called it a tough decision made to stabilise the economy.
On a visit in Orpington, Sir Keir said: “We have found a £22 billion black hole in the economy. We’ve got to fix it.
“What we’re not going to do is pretend it isn’t there or paper over it. That’s what the last government did and it made it worse.
“That means we’ve got to make tough choices.
“I don’t want to cut the winter fuel allowance … but we’ve got to fix the foundations of our economy and that’s what this is all about – making sure that we fix the foundations and then, having done that, that we can build a better future that pensioners and so many other people voted for in this election.”
The government is taking winter fuel allowance off 10 million pensioners to tackle the £22 billion “blackhole” in public finances.
Pensioners whose weekly income is below £218.15 for a single person or £332.95 for a couple are being urged to use the Department for Work and Pensions online calculator to see if they are eligible, which on average is worth about £3,900 a year.
The Daily Express is crusading to restore the winter fuel allowance and supporting the Silver Voices petition urging the government to u-turn.
Sign here at https://www.change.org/p/save-
